When are "certain groups" gonna stop getting offended???

[Buffett Fan]

Ole Miss seeks to silence 'rising South' chant

By SHELIA BYRD (AP) – Oct 22, 2009

JACKSON, Miss. — The University of Mississippi has shortened one of its fight songs to discourage football fans from chanting "the South will rise again" during part of the tune, which critics say is an offensive reminder of the region's intolerant past.
However, some fans have continued to recite the chant at the end of the song, "From Dixie With Love," despite the change made last week at the chancellor's request. The Ole Miss band performs the medley before and after games.
Earlier this month, the Ole Miss student government passed a resolution suggesting the chant be replaced by the phrase, "To hell with LSU."
Dan Jones, who became Ole Miss chancellor in July, said he asked the school's band director, David Wilson, to modify the song to support the efforts of the Associated Student Body. He said he has received complaints from alumni that the slogan is offensive.
"The fact is, the phrase 'The South Will Rise Again' is not part of our tradition or spirit, and it is inconsistent with the university's values and what Ole Miss stands for — a great public university with a focus on the future," Jones said in a phone interview Thursday from the campus in Oxford.
The modified version of the song ends abruptly before the chanting phase starts. It was first played Saturday at Ole Miss's homecoming game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but that didn't stop some fans from chanting.
Brian Ferguson, 26, head of the Colonel Reb Foundation, said he views the university actions as an attempt to silence students.
"I think it's a big to-do about nothing. There were very few people other than the students who knew to say it," said Ferguson, whose organization works to preserve traditions at Ole Miss. But Ferguson agreed that the chant really isn't a tradition.
"If the students get fired up and upset enough about it, they're going to continue to say it. Our biggest fear is that that's going to lead them to eliminate 'From Dixie With Love,' altogether."
The song blends the Confederate Army's fight song, "Dixie," with the Union Army's "Battle Hymn of the Republic," according to Peter K. Frost, a visiting professor of history and international studies at Ole Miss.
The school has worked to erase its image as a bastion of the Old South, which was solidified in 1962 when James Meredith's admission as the first black student led to a bloody standoff.
The university six years ago decided not to have an on-field mascot during sporting events, getting rid of the long-standing Colonel Rebel, a white-haired old man who carries a cane and resembles a plantation owner. At the time, school officials had said they needed a more athletic-looking mascot. The teams are still called the Rebels.
Sophomore Cortez Moss, director of communications for the ASB, said the organization is trying to explain to students why the phrase is offensive.
"You take back on that slave mentality," said Moss, who is black. "I know the South won't rise again and the South can't rise again."
Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, who donated $100 million to the university in 2000, said the chant should be abandoned.
"I hope it will pass on quietly and the students will refrain from the chant, but I found out a long time ago it's hard to tell students what to say and what not to say," Barksdale said Thursday.
Roun McNeal, a former ASB president who is now in law school at Ole Miss, said his own decision to refrain from the chant was easily made.
"I said the chant one day and there was a black family sitting in front of me and they turned around and gave me this look like I hurt them," McNeal said.

[Bevo&Pevo]

Most people don't even realize that slavery wasn't introduced as a reason of the CW until 1863 with Lincoln's EP speech. The war started either 60 or 61, 61 if I remember correctly because the Southern states felt that the "states rights" were being jeapordized. Slavery was a thrown in later. IMO it was in the past, I don't live there. BFD. B&P

[Soapeddler]

Originally Posted by Bevo&Pevo

Most people don't even realize that slavery wasn't introduced as a reason of the CW until 1863 with Lincoln's EP speech. The war started either 60 or 61, 61 if I remember correctly because the Southern states felt that the "states rights" were being jeapordized. Slavery was a thrown in later. IMO it was in the past, I don't live there. BFD. B&P

Yeah, the folks who are offended by that and by the Confederate Flag either don't know history, or they have selective memory.

The did away with the Confederate Flag at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio a long time ago for the same reason.

If Soap Jr, was on board here at 2cool, he could give you the entire history of the Confederacy and why the southern states did what they did.

But he's still only 22 and hasn't learned how to control his temper at times, so we'll refrain from asking him to chime in... LOL!

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Bevo&Pevo

Most people don't even realize that slavery wasn't introduced as a reason of the CW until 1863 with Lincoln's EP speech. The war started either 60 or 61, 61 if I remember correctly because the Southern states felt that the "states rights" were being jeapordized. Slavery was a thrown in later. IMO it was in the past, I don't live there. BFD. B&P

Right - It was done because Lincoln feared that the British would enter the war on the side of the South. Several nations had observers at the Battle of Gettysburg, and the thought on both sides was that the Brits were watching to see if the South really had a chance before committing.

The Brits had abolished slavery in 1832 and were as defensive as the US was about Apartheid in the '80s. It became politically harder for the Brits to support the Confederacy despite their desire for cheap cotton (which would be replaced with Indian cotton when the Suez Canal was finished 10 years later) and the desire to see a potential rival broken into two smaller, weaker, nations.

The Emancipation Proclamation ONLY applied to States in rebellion - did not affect MO, KY, DE, or MD.

[HC]

I am offended by your title. What do you mean or to whom do you refer by "certain groups?"


I make myself laugh sometimes.

This is a joke by me btw.

[POC Troutman]

Originally Posted by Soapeddler

Yeah, the folks who are offended by that and by the Confederate Flag either don't know history, or they have selective memory.

The did away with the Confederate Flag at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio a long time ago for the same reason.

If Soap Jr, was on board here at 2cool, he could give you the entire history of the Confederacy and why the southern states did what they did.

But he's still only 22 and hasn't learned how to control his temper at times, so we'll refrain from asking him to chime in... LOL!

Nah get soap jr. on here, i want to hear it!

[Barnacle Bill]

You'd think a Chancellor would have enough education to know a little about history... It's just plain ignorance on his part and the part of the uneducated masses that want to change the tradition.

And for the record, Lincoln was an insane war mongering tyrant.

[Blue Water Breaux]

Originally Posted by Soapeddler

Yeah, the folks who are offended by that and by the Confederate Flag either don't know history, or they have selective memory.

The did away with the Confederate Flag at Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio a long time ago for the same reason.

If Soap Jr, was on board here at 2cool, he could give you the entire history of the Confederacy and why the southern states did what they did.

But he's still only 22 and hasn't learned how to control his temper at times, so we'll refrain from asking him to chime in... LOL!

thats why I'm here. I think its absolutely ridiculous and detrimental to our history, esp our southern history to do away with the Confederate Flag. Back in 05 I believe at LSU, the local naacp chapter decided to raise a stink about the Purple and Gold Confederate Flag bc it promoted racism and caused discrimination Etc. What a crock of horse manure. Chancellor issued a statement saying LSU refused to allow the LSU Confederate Flag to be removed...whelp, that Saturday, before the big game sure enough,, they tried to protest...looked like something right out of the civil rights era. naacp on one side, Louisiana's finest State Police ARMED in the middle of the street. Never forget that day, just like I'll never forget our past. People need to quit trying to change this country. End of story. Thats my TTMB response.

[jacobp80]

My cousin married a yankee. They still act the same way. Yankees still get on my **** nerves.

[bill]

selective memory